Apprenticeship Gozzoli was born Benozzo di Lese, son of a tailor, in the village of
Sant'Ilario a Colombano around 1421. His family moved to nearby
Florence in 1427. According to the 16th century Italian biographer
Giorgio Vasari, Gozzoli was a pupil and assistant of
Fra Angelico in the early part of his career. Gozzoli assisted Fra Angelico in the execution of fresco decorations in the dormitory cells of the
Convent of San Marco in Florence. Established contributions here include
The Adoration of the Magi in
Cosimo de' Medici's cell and the
Women at the Tomb in a larger depiction of the
Resurrection of Christ in cell 8. Like many other Early Renaissance painters, Benozzo was initially trained as a goldsmith as well as a painter. Between 1444 and 1447, he was therefore able to collaborate with
Lorenzo Ghiberti on the famous
Gates of Paradise of the
Florence Baptistery. On 23 May 1447, Benozzo was with Fra Angelico in
Rome, to where they were called by
Pope Eugene IV to carry out fresco decorations in a chapel in the
Vatican Palace. This chapel was later demolished, so nothing of these works remains. He then accompanied Fra Angelico to
Umbria, where they decorated
a chapel vault in the
Chapel of the Madonna di San Brizio in the
Orvieto Cathedral. Due to political complications in the city, they completed only two of the four vault webs and were again summoned to the Vatican, where the pair worked for
Nicholas V in the
Niccoline Chapel until June 1448. Gozzoli is assumed to have made significant contributions in
the chapel's frescoes. Furthermore, the attribution of a 1449
Madonna and Child Giving Blessings in the church of
Santa Maria sopra Minerva is disputed between Gozzoli and Fra Angelico. In Rome, Gozzoli also executed a fresco of
St Anthony of Padua in the
Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. Both Fra Angelico and Lorenzo Ghiberti were to influence much of Gozzoli's work for the rest of his life. From Ghiberti he learned precision in depicting the finest details and how to illustrate a story vividly, while from Fra Angelico, he took his bright color palette, transferring it to the art of fresco painting. , 1452
In Umbria In 1449, Gozzoli left Fra Angelico and moved to Umbria. In the hilltown of
Narni there is an
Annunciation from 1450, signed OPU[S] BENOT[I] DE FLORENT[IA]. In the monastery of San Fortunato, near
Montefalco, Gozzoli painted a
Madonna and Child between St. Francis and St. Bernardine of Siena, and three other works. One of these, the altarpiece
Madonna of the Girdle, is now in the
Vatican Museums and shows the affinity of Benozzo's early style to Fra Angelico's. In 1450, Gozzoli received his first major independent commission from the monastery of S. Francesco in Montefalco. There, he filled the choir chapel with three registers of episodes from the life of
St Francis of Assisi and various accessories, including portrait heads of
Dante,
Petrarch and
Giotto. These
works were completed in 1452, and are still marked by the style of Angelico, crossed here and there with a more distinctly
Giottesque influence. In the same church, in the chapel of
Saint Jerome, there is a fresco by Gozzoli of the
Virgin and Saints, the
Crucifixion and other subjects. Gozzoli probably remained at Montefalco (with an interval at
Viterbo) until 1456, employing
Pier Antonio Mezzastris as an assistant. Then, he went to
Perugia and painted a
Virgin and Saints that is now in the local academy. of
Palazzo Medici,
Florence, 1459–1461
Return to Florence That same year, Benozzo returned to his native city Florence, the epicenter of
Quattrocento art. Between 1459 and 1461, Gozzoli painted what may be considered his most important works, the frescoes in the
Magi Chapel of the
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. There, in his
Journey of the Magi to Bethlehem and
Angels in Adoration, he mastered a combination of complexity and subtlety, portraying a wealthy scene that encompasses realistic depictions of nature and vivid human portraits. In his
Journey of the Magi, Gozzoli incorporated numerous portraits of his
Medici patrons, their allies and prominent contemporary figures. Furthermore, he also included his self-portrait in the procession, with his name written around the rim of his cap. His frescoes in the Magi Chapel brought Gozzoli a great amount of fame and ensured him of new important commissions. One of these was an altarpiece for the Confraternity of the Purification in Florence, originally housed in the Convent of San Marco. The
Virgin and Child Enthroned among Angels and Saints that he produced between 1461 and 1462 for this occasion is now housed in the
National Gallery, London.
Late years in Tuscany San Gimignano In 1463, likely in fear of the plague, Gozzoli left Florence for
San Gimignano, where he executed some extensive works. Most prominent of these is his seventeen-panel
fresco cycle on
The Life of St Augustine, covering the entire apsidal chapel in the church of
Sant'Agostino. In that same church Gozzoli also completed a composition of
St. Sebastian Protecting the City from the Plague, in which he depicted
St. Sebastian fully clothed and unhurt, thereby going against iconographic canon. In 1465, at the town's heart in the
Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta, Gozzoli furthermore painted a fresco of the
Martyrdom of Sebastian. He stayed in San Gimignano until 1467, completing some further works in the city and its vicinity. '', 1460–1461 (
Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Pisa In 1469, Gozzoli moved to Pisa and began working on his most extensive commission: the vast series of mural paintings in the
Campo Santo edifice of
Pisa. There, he depicted twenty-four subjects from the
Old Testament, ranging from the
Invention of Wine by Noah to the
Visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. He was contracted to paint three subjects per year for about ten ducats each. It appears, however, that this contract was not strictly adhered to, for the actual rate of painting was only three pictures in two years. Perhaps the great multitude of figures and accessories was accepted as a set-off against the slower rate of production. By January 1470 he had executed the fresco of
Noah and his Family, followed by the
Curse of Ham, the
Building of the Tower of Babel (which contains portraits of
Cosimo de' Medici, the young
Lorenzo,
Angelo Poliziano and others), the
Destruction of Sodom, the
Victory of Abraham, the
Marriages of Rebecca and of Rachel, the
Life of Moses, etc. In the Cappella Ammannati, facing a gate of the
Camposanto, he also painted an
Adoration of the Magi, wherein appears a portrait of himself. All this enormous mass of work, in which Benozzo was probably assisted by
Zanobi Machiavelli, was performed, in addition to several other pictures during his stay in Pisa (including the
Glory of St. Thomas Aquinas, now in the
Louvre), in sixteen years, lasting up to 1485. This is the latest date which can with certainty be assigned to any work by his hand. Gozzoli died in
Pistoia in 1497, perhaps of a pestilence. In 1478, as a token of their regard, the Pisan authorities had given him a tomb in the Campo Santo. He likewise had a house of his own in Pisa, and houses and land in Florence. == Trivia ==